Canadian Omar Khadr says he plans to boycott his military trial in Guantanamo Bay and no longer wants to be represented by his American lawyers.

Zaynab Khadr, left, sister of Omar Khadr, and Maha Elsamnah, their mother, spoke on Tuesday with the young man who is being detained at Guantanamo Bay. Elsamnah said she was surprised how mature her son sounded during the 50-minute phone call.

Canadian Omar Khadr says he plans to boycott his military trial in Guantanamo Bay and no longer wants to be represented by his American lawyers.

During the first phone conversation Khadr has been allowed with his family since he was captured in Afghanistan in July 2002, the 20-year-old reportedly told his mother he would do everything he can to avoid appearing before a military commission because he believes the trial is unfair.

Maha Elsamnah said yesterday she was surprised how mature her son sounded during the 50-minute phone call on Tuesday and laughed at the Saudi dialect he has apparently acquired when speaking Arabic.

"When we heard his voice first I was almost collapsing. And then he said, `Don't cry, hold on,'" Elsamnah said yesterday.

"Most of the conversation was almost the same question over and over, `How are you doing and how's your health?'"

Khadr told his family he was "desperate to come home," and described his captors as "criminals," his mother said. He also asked that the Canadian government "try harder" to bring him home and said the only legal help he'll accept is from the family's Edmonton-based lawyer, Dennis Edney.

His U.S. lawyers could not be reached for comment last night.

Canadian foreign affairs officials arranged the phone call and only Elsamnah, her mother and daughter, Zaynab, were allowed to speak with him.

U.S. Department of Defence spokesperson Jeffrey Gordon said yesterday he couldn't comment on Khadr's call specifically, but that detainees are sometimes allowed calls home for "humanitarian reasons."

Guantanamo's chief prosecutor has sworn a murder charge against Khadr for the death of U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Speer. He also faces allegations of attempted murder, conspiracy, providing material support for terrorism and spying. The military commission's convening authority now must officially confirm the charges before the first hearing can take place.

Although Khadr has been allowed to meet with his military-appointed lawyers and two civilian lawyers from Washington, Edney has not been allowed to visit the U.S.'s Navy base at Guantanamo Bay. Edney questioned why Australian lawyers representing detainee David Hicks (who is also scheduled to be tried before the military commission) had been granted access but he has been denied.

"Obviously the Australian government was able to exert sufficient pressure on the Americans to have Hicks represented by an Australian lawyer," Edney said yesterday.

"What is the message that we send to the Americans about how we value Canadian citizens when they're detained abroad?"

Pressure on the Canadian government is starting to mount as groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch criticize Stephen Harper's government for remaining silent concerning Khadr's upcoming military commissions, while other Western governments have denounced the process as illegal.

Six former Canadian foreign affairs ministers, including Liberals Bill Graham and Pierre Pettigrew, who held the positions during Khadr's incarceration, wrote an open letter in January urging Harper to "speak up."

"As former Canadian foreign ministers, we are deeply concerned by how the U.S.-run detention centre at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, flagrantly violates human rights, undermines the rule of law, and sends a signal to other governments that it is acceptable to abuse the rights of their citizens," the letter stated.

After the letter's publication, Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay said Canada had been assured that detainees were treated humanely at Guantanamo and chided the Liberal leaders for criticizing his government when they had not spoken out during their time in power.

Contacted yesterday, Pettigrew said MacKay's response was only an attempt to deflect criticism.

Pettigrew, foreign affairs minister from July 2004 to February 2006, said he felt Canada is losing the "moral high ground," by not calling for Guantanamo's closing like other Western countries such as Britain.

He would not, however, comment specifically on Khadr's charges and when asked to detail his actions concerning Guantanamo during his tenure he replied: "I don't want to go there."

Lloyd Axworthy, one of the letter's authors, said in an interview yesterday he feels Ottawa remains deferential to the U.S. on security concerns and must now "get its act together," before the start of Khadr's trial.

Khadr was captured in July 2002 by U.S. forces in a small town near Afghanistan's border with Pakistan following a lengthy firefight. Then 15, Khadr had been shot three times during the battle and was the only survivor after the U.S.'s bombing of a suspected Al Qaeda hideout.

When U.S. Special Forces troops moved toward the compound, it's alleged Khadr threw a grenade that killed Speer. Khadr was kept in Afghanistan until October 2002, a month after his 16th birthday, when he was transferred to Guantanamo Bay.

In addition to being held responsible for Speer's death, Khadr is alleged to have received training from Al Qaeda in the summer of 2002 and is accused of converting land mines to improvised explosive devices destined for U.S. troops, according to the sworn charges.

Khadr now resides in a new maximum-security facility known as Camp 6, which the TorontoStar toured in January. The detainees are kept in isolation except for a couple of hours a day of recreation in a caged-in area outside.

Two years ago, Khadr told his American civilian lawyer, Muneer Ahmad, that he had been abused during interrogations at the prison. The allegations included being hogtied and used as human mop to clean urine on the floor.

He has reportedly staged various hunger strikes and refused to meet with his lawyers at various points during his incarceration.

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